An oasis of clue

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Chris Carfi (who spent the day at the Business Marketing Association Conference in San Jose) shared some pretty cool insights from a presentation given byJustin Crotty, Ingram Micro VP of Channel Marketing. Here's some of what he had to say:

"At first, Ingram was going to do an ad campaign around "partnering" with their customers. They pulled some prospective ads together.

The ads were abysmal. Stock shots of the attractive business people of all genders and races, smiling cheerfully at the camera. Ingram knew their customers would (rightfully) call B.S. on them. So, the drawing board was revisited.

In other words, it's not that the strategy is aimed at the customers...the customers ::are:: the strategy

Crotty brought up a number of very salient points. In particular, he shared another insight that was spot-on, especially in a commodity business. "If you can get customers to help you develop your go-to-market strategy, the you don't need to sell to them anymore." Think about that for a second."

I love it. It's so nice to start hearing more and more stories like this, you have no idea.

Check out more on the subject here. (Just skip past the part you just read.)

Bonus Style Points: "Oasis of Clue" is just going to have to be my newest favorite phrase. Thanks, Chris.